dolorosa_12: (we are not things)
[personal profile] dolorosa_12
My out-of-office email autoresponse is set, I'm slowly filling the house with delicious things to eat over the next couple of weeks, and the town is blanketed in crisp ice and frost. In other words, things are very much in holiday mode, and I'm very much in the mood to reflect and wrap up the year.

With that in mind, today's open thread prompt is another one asking for people's best of 2022 media. This time, I'm asking about written work — something you read or listened to this year. Which was your favourite?



I feel as if I might not have read my favourite thing yet, as I have a tendency to store things up for the holiday period if I feel I'm going to especially enjoy them. But I went back to my Goodreads list to remind myself of the books I read this year, and of the listed books, there is a clear winner so far. Excluding rereads, the best book I read in 2022 was The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper, the second in her historical fiction trilogy about women working in a brothel in ancient Pompeii. I had intended to write a longer review of this book soon after I read it, but things got away from me and the review remains unwritten. In short, the book is a marvellous recreation of a very specific time and place, and it digs into things that I always enjoy seeing explored in fiction: the injustices of extreme power imbalances, the ways that the powerless (especially groups of women) build connections and community unnoticed in the margins, and the various dystopian compromises and bargains disempowered people have to make to survive a world which denies them their humanity, and the toll these bargains and (on occasion) hypocrises take on them. The book is excellent, and I am very much looking forward to the follow up.

Date: 2022-12-18 05:54 pm (UTC)
vriddy: Person holding a stack of books so high their face can't be seen (books)
From: [personal profile] vriddy
I would have bet you'd mention Perhaps the Stars or something Terra Ignota, I'm surprised :D I still have your reviews saved, I had to pause reading it due to bad timing when I started it. The book you mention sounds very interesting, especially the relationships!

I tend to have too much recency bias so I won't try to pick a favourite from this year XD

Date: 2022-12-23 03:26 pm (UTC)
vriddy: White cat reading a book (reading cat)
From: [personal profile] vriddy

Oooh I got mixed because I only started it this year... 😂 It all makes sense, now! Thank you, I'm looking forward to getting back to it, too!

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